284:. These characters give the Archivist keys to the mines where Charles' glowing eggs are located, scraps with which to upgrade the train, and additional weapons like a flamethrower, rocket launcher, and anti-tank cannon to better fend off Charles. The Archivist also comes into contact with cultists led by mining company owner Warren Charles III, who seemingly plan on using Charles for world domination. They learn that Warren is responsible for causing Charles' awakening, having discovered Charles' eggs after digging too deep during a mining operation.
267:. There are four main NPCs that progress the main quest. Besides Charles, the player also faces armed cultist enemies, who guard the three glowing eggs needed to complete the game. The game encourages players to use stealth to sneak past these guards to steal the eggs and escape without notice, although it is also possible to simply run past them and either kill them with the train's guns or run them over. The game's optional quests generally consist of fetching objects for non-player characters, in exchange for new weapons and other rewards.
201:
42:
275:
The player controls an unnamed archivist and monster hunter simply known as "the
Archivist", who is summoned to the island of Aranearum by their friend Eugene to help deal with Charles, a man-eating locomotive/spider monster who has been terrorizing the island. Upon arrival, Charles attacks them and
287:
After collecting all three eggs, the
Archivist summons Charles, who transforms into "Hell Charles" and devours Warren before chasing and attacking the Archivist. After a grueling battle, the Archivist successfully lures Charles onto a bridge that they and Paul rigged with explosives, and detonates
255:
Gameplay consists of travelling across an open world map in a train, performing tasks for non-player characters, collecting loot, and using that loot to upgrade the train in order to fight against
Charles, who periodically hunts for the player and can be fought off using the gun mounted to it. The
222:
developed and published by Two Star Games. The player controls a monster-hunting archivist with the goal of upgrading their train's defenses in order to fight and defeat the titular character, Charles, an evil spider-train hybrid monster that wanders the landscape looking for people to eat.
388:
On
October 26, 2023, Eisenbeisz updated the game with a "Nightmare Mode", which makes the game excruciatingly harder than usual, adding permadeath and buffing enemies. A new soundtrack was also composed for the new difficulty.
276:
kills Eugene, but not before he tells the
Archivist to find Charles' eggs, which they can use to summon and fight Charles, and gives them a train mounted with a machine gun to traverse the island and fend off Charles.
279:
Eugene's son Paul and the inhabitants of the island have formulated a plan to defeat
Charles, but they need the Archivist to execute it. The Archivist is given the goal of traversing the island to meet with various
498:
gave the game a score of 4/10, describing it as "janky", "barebones", and "more dull than thought possible". He also described the on-foot stealth sections as "aggressively not fun". Zoey
Handley from
486:
described the game as "shonky, very short and frustrating to play for any length of time". He said that the game had a good concept, but that the concept was stretched too thinly. Zack
Zwiezen of
492:
praised the originality and the ideas, but criticized the game for its reliance on "bad stealth sections", a lack of scares, and the short length of the game. Travis
Northup from
1105:
647:
263:
The map is an island lined with interconnected railway tracks, which carry the player's train to a series of locations where quests can be completed for
1019:
757:
345:
as a monstrous spider-train hybrid. The animation was published in
November 2020 to Coben's YouTube channel. Inspiration was likely also gleaned from
1115:
1100:
812:
369:, although Eisenbeisz stated that he had plans to port the game to consoles as well. On December 21, 2023, the game was released for
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621:
1110:
1085:
837:
592:
347:
21:
317:
Eisenbeisz has stated that while the corruption of childhood joy and innocence is a popular theme in horror, he wanted
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542:
374:
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it, sending Charles plummeting face-first onto one the bridge's wooden support beams, instantly killing him.
1090:
356:
888:
256:
goal of the game is to collect three glowing eggs that will summon Charles to battle the player as a final
524:
made a similar comparison, noting the game, "pits players against an evil Thomas the Train-like monster".
516:
342:
328:
510:
1080:
281:
264:
200:
66:
56:
622:"Choo-Choo Charles Interview: The Origins & Inside Details of the Terrifying Spider Train Game"
323:
76:
813:"Day of the Devs: Everything Announced and Shown, Including Choo-Choo Charles and Planet of Lana"
482:
292:
257:
98:
1033:
998:
568:
295:, it is revealed that Charles has hundreds of eggs hiding in a cavern, indicating his return.
106:
17:
514:
series, with Eliana Dockterman of Time Magazine calling it a cross between the franchise and
676:
648:"Choo-Choo Charles Release Date Trailer Has Enough Updated Mechanics To Fill a Murder Train"
470:
176:
247:
s list of most anticipated 2022 video games. The game received mixed reviews from critics.
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307:
240:
131:
126:
91:
47:
946:
543:"Choo-Choo Charles Is a Horror Game About an Evil Train, and the Internet Is All for It"
732:
181:
1059:
1003:
573:
382:
378:
116:
111:
352:
733:"How the 20-year-old developer behind Choo-Choo Charles is handling the attention"
593:"Terrifying spider-train horror game Choo-Choo Charles is coming to consoles too"
501:
441:
227:
219:
86:
41:
1020:"This survival game pits players against an evil Thomas the Train-like monster"
758:"This survival game pits players against an evil Thomas the Train-like monster"
788:
474:
415:
310:'s Blueprint visual script. He recorded the development process in blogs on
321:
to be unique in that it is based on a popular children's TV show; namely,
370:
365:
The game was released for Windows on December 9, 2022, under his company
121:
311:
260:. The game takes players around three to five hours to fully complete.
231:
488:
235:
889:"Choo-Choo Charles - New Hardcore Gamemode Update! - Steam News"
838:"Choo-Choo Charles will arrive at platform Steam in two months"
1024:
521:
494:
453:
972:"That Viral Killer Train Game Is An Admirable, Original Mess"
677:"Choo-Choo Charles review: off the rails survival horror"
230:
on the internet, provoking reactions on websites such as
331:. This was his favorite kids' show when he was young.
226:
After the first trailer was released in 2021, it went
790:
I'm making a game about a spider train named Charles
505:
scored the game 6.5/10, describing it as "alright".
615:
613:
187:
175:
140:
97:
85:
75:
65:
55:
34:
337:was largely inspired by the 3D horror animation
355:(under the pseudonym "Beryl Evans") as part of
999:"The 40 Most Anticipated Video Games of 2022"
864:"Viral Steam Game Finally Coming to Consoles"
701:
699:
697:
569:"The 40 Most Anticipated Video Games of 2022"
8:
426:
425:
400:
199:
40:
31:
477:, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
238:. This led the game to receive a spot in
306:was developed by Gavin Eisenbeisz using
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910:
586:
584:
533:
1041:
1031:
997:Dockterman, Eliana (October 4, 2021).
940:
938:
731:Carpenter, Lincoln (October 8, 2021).
567:Dockterman, Eliana (October 4, 2021).
508:Some critics compared the game to the
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781:
779:
670:
668:
7:
1106:Video games set on fictional islands
945:Northup, Travis (December 9, 2022).
430:
405:
351:, a 2016 children's book written by
811:Valentine, Rebekah (June 9, 2022).
675:Hogarty, Steve (December 9, 2022).
396:
1018:Business, CNN (December 8, 2022).
646:Cripe, Michael (October 8, 2022).
620:Cripe, Michael (October 8, 2021).
14:
541:Moore, Jared (October 4, 2021).
591:Clark, Nicole (June 9, 2022).
156:PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Series X/S
1:
22:Charlie the Choo-Choo (book)
707:"Review: Choo-Choo Charles"
341:by Tom Coben which depicts
1132:
947:"Choo-Choo Charles Review"
375:Xbox Series X and Series S
15:
1116:Video games about spiders
1101:Video games set on trains
434:
431:
409:
406:
39:
1071:2020s horror video games
16:Not to be confused with
299:Development and release
1111:Fiction about monsters
893:store.steampowered.com
517:Thomas the Tank Engine
343:Thomas the Tank Engine
329:Thomas the Tank Engine
1086:Unreal Engine 4 games
469:received a 53/100 on
348:Charlie the Choo-Choo
282:non-player characters
265:non-player characters
681:Rock, Paper, Shotgun
324:Thomas & Friends
918:"Choo-Choo Charles"
428:
403:
1096:Parody video games
1044:has generic name (
978:. December 9, 2022
895:. October 26, 2023
844:. October 10, 2022
793:, October 20, 2021
764:. December 9, 2022
483:Rock Paper Shotgun
401:
293:post-credits scene
480:Steve Hogarty of
467:Choo-Choo Charles
463:
462:
424:
423:
335:Choo-Choo Charles
319:Choo-Choo Charles
304:Choo-Choo Charles
215:Choo-Choo Charles
211:
210:
160:December 21, 2023
35:Choo-Choo Charles
18:Choo-Choo Charlie
1123:
1066:2022 video games
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471:review aggregate
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168:January 18, 2024
152:December 9, 2022
81:Gavin Eisenbeigz
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1076:Adventure games
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402:Aggregate score
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308:Unreal Engine 4
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273:
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171:
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132:Nintendo Switch
127:Xbox Series X/S
92:Unreal Engine 4
51:
30:
29:2022 video game
25:
12:
11:
5:
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1091:Railroad games
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609:
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437:
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433:
422:
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412:
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397:
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367:Two Star Games
358:The Dark Tower
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297:
291:However, in a
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109:
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71:Two Star Games
69:
63:
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61:Two Star Games
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37:
36:
28:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
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1004:Time Magazine
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868:comicbook.com
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842:Eurogamer.net
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427:Review scores
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383:PlayStation 5
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379:PlayStation 4
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195:Single-player
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117:PlayStation 5
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112:PlayStation 4
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980:. Retrieved
975:
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954:. Retrieved
950:
925:. Retrieved
921:
899:December 31,
897:. Retrieved
892:
883:
873:December 29,
871:. Retrieved
867:
858:
846:. Retrieved
841:
832:
820:. Retrieved
816:
806:
795:, retrieved
789:
766:. Retrieved
762:CNN Business
761:
752:
740:. Retrieved
736:
726:
716:December 11,
714:. Retrieved
710:
684:. Retrieved
680:
655:. Retrieved
652:The Escapist
651:
641:
629:. Retrieved
626:The Escapist
625:
600:. Retrieved
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550:. Retrieved
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353:Stephen King
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339:Thomas Feeds
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67:Publisher(s)
57:Developer(s)
26:
1081:Indie games
1042:|last=
982:December 9,
956:December 9,
927:December 9,
848:December 6,
822:December 6,
768:December 9,
742:December 6,
711:Destructoid
686:December 9,
657:December 6,
631:December 6,
602:December 6,
552:December 6,
502:Destructoid
442:Destructoid
432:Publication
327:, starring
220:horror game
99:Platform(s)
77:Designer(s)
46:The game's
1060:Categories
922:Metacritic
528:References
475:Metacritic
416:Metacritic
407:Aggregator
218:is a 2022
511:Halloween
398:Reception
393:Reception
182:Adventure
1034:cite web
737:PC Gamer
371:Xbox One
251:Gameplay
177:Genre(s)
122:Xbox One
107:Windows
597:Polygon
312:YouTube
232:Twitter
188:Mode(s)
148:Windows
141:Release
50:artwork
976:Kotaku
797:May 9,
489:Kotaku
447:6.5/10
420:53/100
381:, and
360:series
236:Reddit
197:
164:Switch
87:Engine
473:site
435:Score
410:Score
245:'
228:viral
48:Steam
1046:help
984:2022
958:2022
929:2022
901:2023
875:2023
850:2022
824:2022
799:2023
770:2022
744:2022
718:2022
688:2022
659:2022
633:2022
604:2022
554:2022
459:4/10
271:Plot
258:boss
241:Time
234:and
1025:CNN
951:IGN
817:IGN
547:IGN
522:CNN
495:IGN
454:IGN
20:or
1062::
1038::
1036:}}
1032:{{
1022:.
1001:.
974:.
949:.
937:^
920:.
909:^
891:.
866:.
840:.
815:.
778:^
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735:.
709:.
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24:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
